Models on the catwalks of London and New York Fashion Week are now surrounded not just by the great and the good of the world’s glossy magazines. Increasingly, the iPad and the iPhone are the devices that record each show, and technology in general is used to bring a global audience closest to the action.

That means collections going on sale online as soon as they are first presented to the world, and sometimes even before. And it also sees photographers using the apps such as Instagram, for instance, to capture evocative pictures of Fashion Week, and journalists and editors using the iPad to sketch their immediate impressions of favourite looks. Twitter has even gone so far as to sign up top designer Matthew Williamson: he’ll be using their Vine video app to deliver what it’s claimed are uniqe behind-the-scenes insights.

Fashion Photographer Uzo Oleh says that the “iPhone and iPad are changing the way people consume fashion; five years ago pictures had to look great on a desktop computer because that’s what the majority of people used. Now it’s the opposite, more people make decisions based on pictures and websites seen from their iPhones or iPads.”

Much of this is led by Apple’s minimalist aesthetic, but he adds, perhaps dauntingly, that “anyone can be a photographer now; iPhone is like pen and paper it’s inexpensive and ubiquitous.”

Apple’s iOS remains the operating system that generates the most revenue for app developers, and TopShop reports that it has seen “exponential” growth through its app, even claiming it is the most successful retail app in the UK today.

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The group’s Chief Marketing Officer, Justin Cooke, even goes so far as to talk about Apple being part of the brand’s DNA, with sales, buying and online and social media staff all using Apple.

That’s not, however, a blindly made decision. The group claims it makes financial sense, and it’s not unaware of the competition. This season Topshop also partnered with Google’s social network, Google+, in a bid to re-imagine “the future of the fashion show” at its show from The Tanks at Tate Modern. Models even wore high definition cameras to give viewers a unique perspective. Cooke’s boss, Sir Philip Green, claims “We have always prided ourselves on being first to market with the latest trends and product innovation.” And for all aspects of the show there’s an obvious commercial motivation, enabled by technology. As Cooke puts it “With everything from the nail polish to the music instantly purchasable and shareable this really is the future of the fashion show.” It’s the increased revenue that means he could be right, and much of that, for now, will come through Apple devices.

At the shows themselves, many use a popular app called Paper for sketches. Fashion GPS, meanwhile, is used by 92 per cent of fashion editors, its developers claim, to manage the logistics of getting the right people into the right seats speedily enough to keep those given to histrionics as happy as is possible. For the first time this year it’s being used to share pictures, too, just as Getty Images is starting to sell Instagram photos taken with iPhones in the same way it sells professional images from photographers wielding £5,000 cameras.

All of this means that on the high street it makes growing sense for retailers to equip their shops, too, with tablets. Reiss has just kitted out every retail store with an iPad, launching a collection online before it appears in store for the first time. Customers in stores which don’t have an item in stock can order it online - as it still counts towards their sales targets, staff are happy. At the top of the market, Spencer Hart has used Samsung Galaxy Notes to mark up its bespoke suits.

Jeremy Langmead is Editor-in-chief of MrPorter.com, the men’s equivalent to designer fashion retailer, Net-a-porter. He argues the shift to technology is fundamental, and accelerating: “Whether it’s posting pictures from the front row of shows on Instagram or tweeting images of high profile attendees, iPhones have certainly replaced the traditional notepad and digital camera.”